Stanley County, South Dakota

STANLEY COUNTYSouth Dakota

Equalization

Director: Don Wiedemer, CAA

Assistant: Beth Dutt

Contact Information:

Phone: (605) 223-7789

Fax: (605) 223-7791

E-mail: scdcoe@midconetwork.com

Mailing Address:

PO Box 623

Fort Pierre SD 57532-0623

Office Location:

Stanley County Courthouse

08 E 2 Avenue

Fort Pierre SD 57532

Office Hours:

8 A.M. – 12 P.M. & 1 P.M. -5 P.M. CST

Monday - Friday

*Excluding Holdiays

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Services Offered:

Assessments on property

Information on the Board of Equalization

Mobile Home Registration

Owner Occupied Applications

Exempt Property Applications

Renewable Energy Applications

Stanley County Planning & Zoning:

Building Permits

(Except City of Fort Pierre and 1 mile extra-territorial radius)

Variances

Rezoning

Plats

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The Stanley County Director of Equalization is appointed by the County Commission and is responsible for the discovery, lists and values of all real property within Stanley County for the property taxation purposes. This includes identifying properties to be appraised, conducting on sight inspections of residential, mobile homes, commercial, industrial and agricultural classes of property. The goal of the Equalization office is to assess values accurately so the tax burden will be distributed fairly and the public will have confidence in the local tax administration.

The Director of Equalization makes an effort to do inside inspections of homes for accuracy. If the homeowner is not at home, we will leave a notice (tag) on their door. It is in the homeowner’s best interest to respond to our tag. If we do not get access to the inside, we will assume the structure is completely finished on the interior, including lower levels and this may result in a higher value being assessed for homes we do not get access to.

This office abides by South Dakota Codified Law and the Administrative Rules of the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulations. The Director of Equalization is required to have or obtain a Certified Assessor Appraiser designation through the Department of Revenue within one year of appointment. Recertification is required every 5 years and is accomplished by attending annual schools, taking and passing prescribed courses, attending conferences and workshops sponsored by the South Dakota Association of Assessing Offices and the Department of Revenue.

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Property Taxes:

Property Taxes are not determined by the Director of Equalization. Our information is shared with the entities who determine the tax dollars needed by each unit of government. It is the job of those entities to distribute the tax burden on tax dollars needed and the values of property within each taxing district.

There are three steps that are common to the application of property taxes:

Establishing the value of property. The Director of Equalization participates in this first step, which is to establish a value of all property within the boundaries of each unit of government. Because all property is not of equal value, individual values are arrived at based on the price the property would bring if sold. This selling price determined by the sale price of comparable properties, and known as the true and full value, is what establishes the value of the property.
Establishing the amount of tax. The Director of Equalization does not participate in this process. Other entities determine the amount of tax dollars needed to meet the costs of operating a unit of government. The higher the cost of operating the city of school district, the larger the revenues required from property taxes.
Establishing a tax rate. The Director of Equalization does not determine or calculate the tax rate. Our information is shared with other entities who establish a tax rate for individual pieces of property, based on values and the amount of tax dollars needed. Each unit of government is responsible for a portion of the tax rate applied in the collection of tax dollars. These units of government include: city government, school district, county government, special districts, etc. The tax rate for all property in a local unit of government is arrived at by dividing the value of all the property into the amount of tax dollars needed to complete the budget of that local unit of government.

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Policy:

All property shall be assessed at full-and-true market value as of the legal date of assessment.
Market value: amount the property would probably sell if sold on the open market (SDCL 10-6-1.3)
SDCL 10-6-2 defines November 1st as " the legal date of assessment."
SDCL 10-6-33: "All property shall be assessed at true and full value..."
SDCL 10-6-33: Director of Equalization prohibited from adopting a "lower or different standard of value because it is to serve as a basis for taxation."
Appropriate consideration of the cost approach, market approach and income approach to appraisal will be used to determine value.
SDCL 10-6-33: Basis for determining valuation for tax purposes.
South Dakota Real Estate Appraisal Manual (pp 13-19).
Attempts to falsify or make fraudulent property statements will be reported.
SDCL 10-6-21 requires the Director of Equalization to report evidence of property tax evasion to the State's Attorney.
SDCL 10-6-21: Persons guilty of making "false or fraudulent" property statements for the purpose of "evading the payment of taxes" are guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
SDCL 10-6-20: "in addition to any and all other penalties" persons who attempt to evade, deceive, or fail to list property will be subject to having the "amount not listed and an additional penalty of fifty percent of the amount not listed: added to assessment.
An assessor will inspect each site to collect accurate measurements and relevant site data.
SDCL 10-3-23 empowers the Director of Equalization and his deputies to "enter upon and inspect all property for the purpose of determining the value thereof..."
South Dakota Real Estate Appraisal Manual (pp 13-19)
Sales data will be recorded, and reported to the Dept. of Revenue, as part of the sales ratio study.
SDCL 10-11-54 through SDCL 10-11-60 outlines the sales ratio study
SDCL 10-11-56 specifies only arms-length transactions will be included in the sales study
SDCL 10-11-56 defines arms-length: "property...on the open market for a reasonable period of time...a willing seller...a willing buyer...no coercion or advantage taken by either party."
After value is determined, public records will be updated and maintained by the office of the Director of Equalization. An annual notice of assessed value will be mailed to property owners.
SDCL 10-6-50
South Dakota Real Estate Appraisal Manual (pp 13-19)

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